Sangha in Chinese / Japanese...

Sangha

In Buddhism, this term refers to a community of monks and/or nuns (one of the "Three Jewels"). In general terms, it can simply mean "all followers of the Buddha."

Notes: Though there are not vast numbers of Chinese Hindus, in the Hindu faith, this term means "community together."The original Sanskrit word is also Romanized as samgha.The first character means "monk." The second character means Buddha or Shakyamuni.僧伽 is really a transliteration of the original Sanskrit but it uses two very profound Chinese characters related to Buddhism.

Some may pronounce this as "seng qie" or "seng jia" in Mandarin (two possible pronunciations for second character). Note that "qie" would sound a bit like "chee-ah" using typical English pronunciation. Chinese Romanization is not actually designed to match English sounds.

Note that when writing this as Kanji, Japanese will tend to write the first character in the form shown to the right. If you select our Japanese master calligrapher, please expect this special Kanji form. However, it should also be noted that this is not a common term in Japanese (except by certain sects of Buddhism or perhaps devout Buddhists in Japan).

Sangha / Order of Monks

僧 is the single-character or short form of Sangha, the Buddhist idea of community or order (of monks, nuns, or followers of the Buddha). Alone, this character can simply mean "monk" (Just means monk in Japanese).

Note that when writing this as Kanji, Japanese will tend to write this in the form shown to the right. If you select our Japanese master calligrapher, please expect this special Kanji form.

Three Treasures of Buddhism

These three treasures are the Buddha 佛, the Dharma 法 (teachings or the law of the Buddha), and the Sangha 僧 (the community of monks or followers).

This term is used by most (perhaps not all) Buddhists in China, Japan, and South Korea (written the same it the original form, but pronounced differently in each language). Non-Buddhists may just read this as, "Three Treasures," without the religious context. For instance, there is also a, "Three Treasures of Chinese Medicine," that is sometimes titled the same way.

In modern Japanese and Simplified Chinese, this is written 三宝 instead of 三寶.

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Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your sangha search...

monk; Sangha, the Buddhist monastic order monk; priest; (surname) Sou 僧伽 saṅgha, an assembly, collection, company, society. The corporate assembly of at least three (formerly four) monks under a chairman, empowered to hear confession, grant absolution, and ordain. The church or monastic order, the third member of the triratna. The term 僧 used alone has come to mean a monk, or monks in general. Also僧佉, 僧加, 僧企耶.; A fully ordained monk, i.e. a bhikṣu as contrasted with the śramaņa.

{Buddh} The Three Jewels; The Triple Gem; Triratna; The Three Treasures; Buddha, Dharma, Sangha; Buddha, the teachings of Buddha, and the community of monks and nuns; (surname) Sanpou; (surname) Sanbou

the Three Precious Treasures of Buddhism, namely: the Buddha 佛, the Dharma 法 (his teaching), and the Sangha 僧 (his monastic order) (surname) SanbouThis term is used in Buddhism, but due to a licensing issue, we cannot show the definition

Triratna, or Ratnatraya, i.e. the Three Precious Ones: 佛 Buddha, 法 Dharma, 儈 Saṅgha, i.e. Buddha, the Law, the Ecelesia or Order. Eitel suggests this trinity may be adapted from the Trimūrti, i.e, Brahma, Viṣṇu, and Sīva. The Triratna takes many forms, e.g. the Trikāya 三身 q.v. There is also the Nepalese idea of a triple existence of each Buddha as a Nirvāṇa-Buddha, Dhyāni-Buddha, and Mānuṣi-Buddha; also the Tantric trinity of Vairocana as Nirvāṇa-Buddha, Locana according to Eitel "existing in reflex in the world of forms", and the human Buddha, Śākyamuni. There are other elaborated details known as the four and the six kinds of triratna 四 and 六種三寳, e.g. that the Triratna exists in each member of the trinity. The term has also been applied to the 三仙 q.v. Popularly the 三寳 are referred to the three images in the main hall of monasteries. The centre one is Śākyamuni, on his left Bhaiṣajya 藥師 and on his right Amitābha. There are other explanations, e.g. in some temples Amitābha is in the centre, Avalokiteśvara on his left, and Mahāsthāmaprāpta or Mañjuśrī on his right. Table of Triratna, Trikāya, and Trailokya: — DHARMASAṄGHABUDDHAEssential BodhiReflected BodhiPractical BodhiDhyāni BuddhaDhyāni BodhisattvaMānuṣī BuddhaDharmakāyaSambhogakāyaNirmāṇakāyaPurityCompletenessTransformations4th Buddha-kṣetra3rd Buddha-kṣetra1st and 2nd Buddha kṣetraArūpadhātuRūpadhātuKāmadhātu.

Triśaraṇa, or Śaraṇa-gamana. The three surrenders to, or "formulas of refuge" in, the Three Precious Ones 三賓, i.e. to the Buddha 佛, the Dharma 法, the Saṅgha 僧. The three formulas are 歸依佛 Buddham śaraṇaṃ gacchāmi, 歸依法 Dharmaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi, 歸依僧 Saṅghaṃ śaraṇaṃ gacchāmi. It is "the most primitive formula fidei of the early Buddhists". The surrender is to the Buddha as teacher 師, the Law as medicine 藥, the Ecclesia as friends 友. These are known as the 三歸依.

{Buddh} trikaya (three bodies of the Buddha); (surname) Sanmi trikāya. 三寶身 The threefold body or nature of a Buddha, i.e. the 法, 報, and 化身, or dharmakāya, sambhogakāya, and nirmāṇakāya. The three are defined as 自性, 受用, and 變化, the Buddha-body per se, or in its essential nature; his body of bliss, which he "receives" for his own "use" and enjoyment; and his body of transformation, by which he can appear in any form; i.e. spiritual, or essential; glorified; revealed. While the doctrine of the trikāya is a Mahāyāna concept, it partly results from the Hīnayāna idealization of the earthly Buddha with his thirty-two signs, eighty physical marks, clairvoyance, clairaudience, holiness, purity, wisdom, pity, etc. Mahāyāna, however, proceeded to conceive of Buddha as the Universal, the All, with infinity of forms, yet above all our concepts of unity or diversity. To every Buddha Mahāyāna attributed a three-fold body: that of essential Buddha; that of joy or enjoyment of the fruits of his past saving labours; that of power to transform himself at will to any shape for omnipresent salvation of those who need him. The trinity finds different methods of expression, e.g. Vairocana is entitled 法身, the embodiment of the Law, shining everywhere, enlightening all; Locana is 報身; c.f. 三賓, the embodiment of purity and bliss; Śākyamuni is 化身 or Buddha revealed. In the esoteric sect they are 法 Vairocana, 報 Amitābha, and 化 Śākyamuni. The 三賓 are also 法 dharma, 報 saṅgha, 化 buddha. Nevertheless, the three are considered as a trinity, the three being essentially one, each in the other. (1) 法身 Dharmakāya in its earliest conception was that of the body of the dharma, or truth, as preached by Śākyamuni; later it became his mind or soul in contrast with his material body. In Mādhyamika, the dharmakāya was the only reality, i.e. the void, or the immateria1, the ground of all phenomena; in other words, the 眞如 the tathāgatagarbha, the bhūtatathatā. According to the Huayan (Kegon) School it is the 理or noumenon, while the other two are氣or phenomenal aspects. "For the Vijñānavāda... the body of the law as highest reality is the void intelligence, whose infection (saṃkleҫa) results in the process of birth and death, whilst its purification brings about Nirvāṇa, or its restoration to its primitive transparence" (Keith). The "body of the law is the true reality of everything". Nevertheless, in Mahāyāna every Buddha has his own 法身; e.g. in the dharmakāya aspect we have the designation Amitābha, who in his saṃbhogakāya aspect is styled Amitāyus. (2) 報身Sambhogakāya, a Buddha's reward body, or body of enjoyment of the merits he attained as a bodhisattva; in other words, a Buddha in glory in his heaven. This is the form of Buddha as an object of worship. It is defined in two aspects, (a) 自受用身 for his own bliss, and (b) 他受用身 for the sake of others, revealing himself in his glory to bodhisattvas, enlightening and inspiring them. By wisdom a Buddha's dharmakāya is attained, by bodhisattva-merits his saṃbhogakāya. Not only has every Buddha all the three bodies or aspects, but as all men are of the same essence, or nature, as Buddhas, they are therefore potential Buddhas and are in and of the trikāya. Moreover, trikāya is not divided, for a Buddha in his 化身 is still one with his 法身 and 報身, all three bodies being co-existent. (3) 化身; 應身; 應化身 nirmāṇakāya, a Buddha's transformation, or miraculous body, in which he appears at will and in any form outside his heaven, e.g. as Śākyamuni among men; three bodies [of the Buddha]

pañcānantarya; 五無間業 The five rebellious acts or deadly sins, parricide, matricide, killing an arhat, shedding the blood of a Buddha, destroying the harmony of the sangha, or fraternity. The above definition is common both to Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna. The lightest of these sins is the first; the heaviest the last. II. Another group is: (1) sacrilege, such as destroying temples, burning sutras, stealing a Buddha's or a monk's things, inducing others to do so, or taking pleasure therein; (2) slander, or abuse of the teaching of śrāvaka s, pratyekabuddhas, or bodhisattvas; (3) ill-treatment or killing of a monk; (4) any one of the five deadly sins given above; (5) denial of the karma consequences of ill deeds, acting or teaching others accordingly, and unceasing evil life. III. There are also five deadly sins, each of which is equal to each of the first set of five: (1) violation of a mother, or a fully ordained nun; (2) killing a bodhisattva in a sangha; (5) destroying a Buddha's stūpa. IV. The five unpardonable sin of Devadatta who (1) destroyed the harmony of the community; (2) injured Śākyamuni with a stone, shedding his blood; (3) induced the king to let loose a rutting elephant to trample down Śākyamuni; (4) killed a nun; (5) put poison on his finger-nails and saluted Śākyamuni intending to destroy him thereby; five heinous crimes

{Buddh} dasabhumi (forty-first to fiftieth stages in the development of a bodhisattva); (place-name) Juuji daśabhūmi; v. 十住. The "ten stages" in the fifty-two sections of the development of a bodhisattva into a Buddha. After completing the十四向 he proceeds to the 十地. There are several groups. I. The ten stages common to the Three Vehicles 三乘 are: (1) 乾慧地 dry wisdom stage, i. e. unfertilized by Buddha-truth, worldly wisdom; (2) 性地 the embryo-stage of the nature of Buddha-truth, the 四善根; (3) 八人地 (八忍地), the stage of the eight patient endurances; (4) 見地 of freedom from wrong views; (5) 薄地 of freedom from the first six of the nine delusions in practice; (6) 離欲地 of freedom from the remaining three; (7) 巳辨地 complete discrimination in regard to wrong views and thoughts, the stage of an arhat; (8) 辟支佛地 pratyeka-buddhahood, only the dead ashes of the past left to sift; (9) 菩薩地 bodhisattvahood; (10) 佛地 Buddhahood. v. 智度論 78. II. 大乘菩薩十地 The ten stages of Mahāyāna bodhisattva development are: (1) 歡喜地 Pramuditā, joy at having overcome the former difficulties and now entering on the path to Buddhahood; (2) 離垢地 Vimalā, freedom from all possible defilement, the stage of purity; (3) 發光地 Prabhākarī, stage of further enlightenment; (4) 焰慧地 Arciṣmatī, of glowing wisdom; (5) 極難勝地 Sudurjayā, mastery of utmost or final difficulties; (6) 現前地 Abhimukhī, the open way of wisdom above definitions of impurity and purity; (7) 遠行地 Dūraṁgamā, proceeding afar, getting above ideas of self in order to save others; (8) 不動地 Acalā, attainment of calm unperturbedness; (9) 善慧地 Sādhumatī, of the finest discriminatory wisdom, knowing where and how to save, and possessed of the 十力 ten powers; (10) 法雲地 Dharmamegha, attaining to the fertilizing powers of the law-cloud. Each of the ten stages is connected with each of the ten pāramitās, v. 波. Each of the 四乘 or four vehicles has a division of ten. III. The 聲聞乘十地 ten Śrāvaka stages are: (1) 受三歸地 initiation as a disciple by receiving the three refuges, in the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha; (2) 信地 belief, or the faith-root; (3) 信法地 belief in the four truths; (4) 内凡夫地 ordinary disciples who observe the 五停心觀, etc.; (5) 學信戒 those who pursue the 三學 three studies; (6) 八人忍地 the stage of 見道 seeing the true Way; (7) 須陀洹地 śrota-āpanna, now definitely in the stream and assured of nirvāṇa; (8) 斯陀含地 sakrdāgāmin, only one more rebirth; (9) 阿那含地 anāgāmin, no rebirth; and (10) 阿羅漢地 arhatship. IV. The ten stages of the pratyekabuddha 緣覺乘十地 are (1) perfect asceticism; (2) mastery of the twelve links of causation; (3) of the four noble truths; (4) of the deeper knowledge; (5) of the eightfold noble path; (6) of the three realms 三法界; (7) of the nirvāṇa state; (8) of the six supernatural powers; (9) arrival at the intuitive stage; (10) mastery of the remaining influence of former habits. V. 佛乘十地 The ten stages, or characteristics of a Buddha, are those of the sovereign or perfect attainment of wisdom, exposition, discrimination, māra-subjugation, suppression of evil, the six transcendent faculties, manifestation of all bodhisattva enlightenment, powers of prediction, of adaptability, of powers to reveal the bodhisattva Truth. VI. The Shingon has its own elaborate ten stages, and also a group 十地十心, see 十心; and there are other groups.

The things appertaining to the triratna, i.e. to the Buddha— temples and images, etc.; to the dharma— the scriptures; to the saṅgha— cassock, bowl, etc; three things associated with the three treasures

{Buddh} parajika (rules entailing expulsion from the sangha for life) pārājika. The first section of the Vinaya piṭaka containing rules of expulsion from the order, for unpardonable sin. Also 波羅闍巳迦; 波羅市迦. Cf. 四波羅夷. There are in Hīnayāna eight sins for expulsion of nuns, and in Mahāyāna ten. The esoteric sects have their own rules.

In the one body of the saṅgha is the whole triratna, Buddha, Dharma, and saṅgha. Also, Mind, Buddha, and the living, these three are without differentiation, 心佛與衆生是三無差別, i.e. are all one; one essence for three treasures

Viśiṣṭa-cāritra Bodhisattva, who suddenly rose out of the earth as Buddha was concluding one of his Lotus sermons; v. Lotus sūtra 15 and 21. He is supposed to have been a convert of the Buddha in long past ages and to come to the world in its days of evil. Nichiren in Japan believed himself to be this Bodhisattva's reincarnation, and the Nichiren trinity is the Buddha, i.e. the eternal Śākyamuni Buddha; the Law, i.e. the Lotus Truth; and the Saṅgha, i.e. this Bodhisattva, in other words Nichiren himself as the head of all living beings, or eldest son of the Buddha; Viśiṣṭacāritra Bodhisattva

The eight great "spirit", or sacred stūpas erected at (1) Kapilavastu, Buddha's birthplace; (2) Magadha, where he was first enlightened; (3) the deer-park Benares, where he first preached; (4) Jetavana, where he revealed his supernatural powers; (5) Kanyākubja (Kanauj), where he descended from Indra's heavens; (6) Rājagṛha, where Devadatta was destroyed and the Saṅgha purifed; (7) Vaiśāli, where he announced his speedy nirvana; (8) Kuśinagara, where he entered nirvāṇa. There is another slightly variant list; eight great sacred stūpas

The nirmāṇakāya Buddha in the triratna forms; in Hīnayāna these are the human 16-foot Buddha, his dharma as revealed in the four axioms and twelve nidānas, and his sangha, or disciples, i. e. arhats and pratyekabuddhas; three jewels of the transformation aspect

The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...

Title

Characters

Romaji(Romanized Japanese)

Various forms of Romanized Chinese

Sangha

僧伽

sougya / sogya

sēng qié / seng1 qie2 / seng qie / sengqie

seng ch`ieh / sengchieh / seng chieh

SanghaOrder of Monks

僧

sou / so

sēng / seng1 / seng

Three Treasures of Buddhism

三寶三宝

san bou / sanbou / san bo / sanbo

sān bǎo / san1 bao3 / san bao / sanbao

san pao / sanpao

In some entries above you will see that characters have different versions above and below a line.In these cases, the characters above the line are Traditional Chinese, while the ones below are Simplified Chinese.

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The wall scroll that Sandy is holding in this picture is a "large size"single-character wall scroll.We also offer custom wall scrolls in small, medium, and an even-larger jumbo size.

Professional calligraphers are getting to be hard to find these days.Instead of drawing characters by hand, the new generation in China merely type roman letters into their computer keyboards and pick the character that they want from a list that pops up.

There is some fear that true Chinese calligraphy may become a lost art in the coming years. Many art institutes in China are now promoting calligraphy programs in hopes of keeping this unique form
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Even with the teachings of a top-ranked calligrapher in China, my calligraphy will never be good enough to sell. I will leave that to the experts.

The same calligrapher who gave me those lessons also
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Some people may refer to this entry as Sangha Kanji, Sangha Characters, Sangha in Mandarin Chinese, Sangha Characters, Sangha in Chinese Writing, Sangha in Japanese Writing, Sangha in Asian Writing, Sangha Ideograms, Chinese Sangha symbols, Sangha Hieroglyphics, Sangha Glyphs, Sangha in Chinese Letters, Sangha Hanzi, Sangha in Japanese Kanji, Sangha Pictograms, Sangha in the Chinese Written-Language, or Sangha in the Japanese Written-Language.